I know, I know, this will most likely be frowned upon by the audiophile stereo purists and high-end users among us. I am not trying to argue that a HT set-up will ever be as good as a similarly priced dedicated stereo rig. However, my passion also involves surround music formats such as SACD, DVD-A & BD where audio fidelity is as important than in a stereo system.
I am in my own stereo heaven when I can spin a really well recorded/mastered disc from my Yamaha universal player with the Burr-Brown DSD 1791 DAC chips connected to my Cambridge Azur 650R via direct analogue connections that effectively bypasses all DSP functions and transforms it into a very capable integrated stereo amp (from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, it starts at around 0.003% THD @ 5 watts from where it maintains a reasonably flat THD curve all the way to 0.01% @ 140 watts where it starts curving upwards to reach 0.1% distortion at 157.9 watts and 1% distortion at 174.4 watts) that feeds a pair of KEF iQ90's. Covers removed, the iQ90's look and sound the part (I love them also @Wanda ^-^). Admittedly not a high-end or dedicated stereo rig, but to my ears those speakers sound full, detailed and really well-balanced across the entire frequency range (with no sub engaged) with this kind of playback set-up.
Importantly though (and this was the purpose of the post/thread), any other stereo source (incl digital files played back from my media player) that has to be routed via the Cambridge's DSP and DAC's, sounds vastly inferior. It is amazing what a difference it can make if you use the gear in the right way.
So now I need to find a solution to be able to play/stream Tidal at a similar quality level than the Yamaha disc spinner, which would probably necessitate a separate DAC somewhere in the chain... I am of the opinion that something like Tidal is the future. Lossless streaming with a monthly subscription, i.e. no more purchases, no more downloads, no need for additional hardware for storing/interface/playback.
So are there any other views or opinions as to how a HT set-up can be improved on for stereo playback? Separate DAC's and dedicated power amps should probably feature (apart from the obvious...a pair of nice sounding main speakers).
I am in my own stereo heaven when I can spin a really well recorded/mastered disc from my Yamaha universal player with the Burr-Brown DSD 1791 DAC chips connected to my Cambridge Azur 650R via direct analogue connections that effectively bypasses all DSP functions and transforms it into a very capable integrated stereo amp (from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, it starts at around 0.003% THD @ 5 watts from where it maintains a reasonably flat THD curve all the way to 0.01% @ 140 watts where it starts curving upwards to reach 0.1% distortion at 157.9 watts and 1% distortion at 174.4 watts) that feeds a pair of KEF iQ90's. Covers removed, the iQ90's look and sound the part (I love them also @Wanda ^-^). Admittedly not a high-end or dedicated stereo rig, but to my ears those speakers sound full, detailed and really well-balanced across the entire frequency range (with no sub engaged) with this kind of playback set-up.
Importantly though (and this was the purpose of the post/thread), any other stereo source (incl digital files played back from my media player) that has to be routed via the Cambridge's DSP and DAC's, sounds vastly inferior. It is amazing what a difference it can make if you use the gear in the right way.
So now I need to find a solution to be able to play/stream Tidal at a similar quality level than the Yamaha disc spinner, which would probably necessitate a separate DAC somewhere in the chain... I am of the opinion that something like Tidal is the future. Lossless streaming with a monthly subscription, i.e. no more purchases, no more downloads, no need for additional hardware for storing/interface/playback.
So are there any other views or opinions as to how a HT set-up can be improved on for stereo playback? Separate DAC's and dedicated power amps should probably feature (apart from the obvious...a pair of nice sounding main speakers).
